Markets trade near the highs of the day in early noon session

Indian markets have bounced back in style, bucking the sluggish global cues and were trading near the highs of the day in the early noon session. Recovering from the initial hiccups the major indices started moving higher supported by surge in some blue-chip stocks like Reliance and HDFC Bank and reached near the crucial psychological levels of 28400 (Sensex) and 8600 (Nifty) levels intraday. Though, there was mild profit booking too but markets were managing to hold their gains intact. Traders were also getting some support with GST panel submitting its report to Rajya Sabha, proposing three modifications related to clause 12, 18 and 19. The first modification is regarding 1 percent additional tax on inter-state supply in Clause 18, which the panel has said that may lead to cascading effect on taxes. The panel said the term 'supply' should be clarified and proposed term ‘Band’ be defined within GST limit. The panel has recommended compensation for GST loss for 5 years. Back on street, the broader markets too were moving neck-in-neck to the benchmarks, while most of the sectoral indices were moving higher.

The telecom stocks were a bit under whether after telecom regulator TRAI said that most of the telecom companies in Delhi and Mumbai are not meeting the prescribed standards. Also, the telecom department has written to telecom operators to take steps to optimise radio frequencies in their networks and analyse the reasons for call drops, and report back to the government on the action they have taken to deal with the matter by July 31. Some profit booking in Infosys and cautiousness ahead of Apple’s first earnings since Apple Watch debut was keeping the IT and tech stocks under pressure. On the other hand, the FMCG stocks that were laggard of the last session due to disappointing numbers to HUL, too have moved higher. HUL itself was up by around 3%, while other FMCG major ITC has gained 1%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28376.60, up by 194.46 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 28070.91 and 28415.52. There were 20 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while one stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were moving in tandem to the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.71%, while Small cap index gained 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.78%, FMCG up by 0.79%, Auto up by 0.74%, PSU up by 0.69%, Bankex up by 0.48%, while Metal down by 0.72%, IT down by 0.36%, TECK down by 0.33%, Consumer Durables down by 0.14% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.75%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.64%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.34%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.32% and HDFC up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.92%, Lupin down by 2.16%, Hindalco down by 1.57%, TCS down by 1.25% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid indication by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the government will consider suggestions from the Opposition on the Land Bill, the Joint Parliamentary Panel inspecting the Land Bill has got another extension. The committee which was originally scheduled to submit its report on the first day of the Monsoon session of the parliament had got an extension by a week. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that there is a fresh request to grant some more time and now, the report is expected to be submitted in the first week of August.

Lok Sabha Speaker further stated that she had received a letter from panel Chairman SS Ahluwalia of the BJP seeking another extension till the first week of August as the members wanted to seek certain clarifications from the government on the amendments brought to the 2013 law.

Earlier, Prime Minister had said that “It is time that we move forward on the Land Bill issue, incorporating suggestions from all sides. We should move positively on this issue.” He also said that “We need to see what the Joint Parliamentary Committee report says. If there is a consensus in the Committee, it is good for national interest as well as farmers. If the Committee makes a lot of suggestions and recommendations, we may have to bring in a new Bill.”

The proposed Land Bill, which will be replacing the ‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 is facing serious resentment from the opposition parties. The government has promulgated the Land ordinance thrice and if it is unable to manage to get the Bill passed in the monsoon session, the ordinance will lapse on September 1.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8588.75, up by 59.30 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 8498.65 and 8599.25. There were 34 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 3.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.77% Reliance Industries up by 2.70%, BPCL up by 2.48% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.44%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.74%, Cairn India down by 2.40%, Idea Cellular down by 2.36%, Lupin down by 1.98% and Hindalco down by 1.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Hang Seng was down by 251.4 points or 0.98% to 25,285.03, Nikkei 225 slumped by 248.3 points or 1.19% to 20,593.67, Taiwan Weighted lost 87.26 points or 0.97% to 8,918.70, KOSPI Index was lower by 18.89 points or 0.91% to 2,064.73, Straits Times declined by 14.11 points or 0.42% to 3,357.30, Shanghai Composite was lower by 11.17 points or 0.28% to 4,006.50, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 7.36 points or 0.42% to 1,728.83 and Jakarta Composite was tad lower by 0.29 points to 4,869.56.